Seven arrested in two days as Phuket illegal hotel crackdown continues
Officials arrested four more suspected illegal hotel operators in Patong on Thursday, bringing the total detained in Phuket to seven after earlier raids in Karon and Rawai.
Seven people have been arrested in Phuket over two days in a crackdown on unlicensed hotel operators, with officials targeting four more establishments in Patong on Thursday, according to the Department of Provincial Administration.
DOPA said the latest operation brought the total number of illegal hotel operators arrested in Phuket to seven, following raids in Karon and Rawai on Wednesday in which three operators were detained.
The department said investigations found the businesses were offering accommodation to Thai and foreign tourists and accepting online bookings in a manner similar to licensed hotels, despite lacking hotel licences required under the Hotel Act 2004. Officials said evidence gathered during the investigation indicated the establishments had been operating as hotels without authorization.
After the inspections, officers arrested those deemed responsible and started legal proceedings, DOPA said. Evidence collected during the raids will also be used in further investigations.
DOPA did not identify the four Patong businesses targeted in Thursday’s operation.
The crackdown was ordered by DOPA Director-General Narucha Khosasilvilai, who publicly uses the name Narucha Kosacivilize. DOPA said he assigned Deputy Director-General Witthoon Sirinukul to lead a special operations team working with Phuket Provincial Police on the second day of inspections.
Narucha said the campaign was intended to enforce the law, protect tourists, maintain accommodation safety standards and ensure fair competition for legally operating businesses.
He said inspections would continue in major tourism destinations across Thailand and warned that authorities would also investigate any complaints or information suggesting negligence, favoritism or the illegal acceptance of bribes by officials connected to unlicensed hotel operations.
The Phuket operations are part of DOPA’s nationwide “Conquering the Gangsters” campaign targeting businesses operating outside legal requirements in major tourism centers.
The latest raids come as Narucha faces separate political scrutiny. On the same day the first Phuket hotel raids were announced, Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee and People’s Party deputy leader Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn filed complaints with the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Election Commission seeking investigations into allegations that Narucha and other Interior Ministry officials interfered in the February Senate election.
Narucha has publicly denied wrongdoing and said the activities in question were legitimate government information campaigns.
